LAND OF THE GIANTS-Home Sweet Home, Our Man O'Reilly, Nightmare

PrologRanger Wilson on fire patrol, spots Barry chasing Chipper to a strange silver and orange space capsule. In the script, Barry chasing Chipper, threatened to hit the dog for being bad. Barry brings Fitzhugh to it while the giant watches. Fitzhugh fools Barry into making what he considers an oath. Fitzhugh assures Barry he will tell the others about the small ship. Wilson calls a giant named Jack to bring a net--and find out how much the reward for capturing little people is.

Act OneArriving back at camp for lunch, Fitzhugh holds Barry to his oath when he almost tells Valerie, who needs Barry's help to prepare and set up lunch. Fitzhugh then gets Dan to come with him, telling Dan that what he has to show him is more important than food. Val was scared when she thought Barry slipped he found a spaceship. Fitzhugh cons Dan into examining the Space Pod hull and interior ---the inside of which has unreadable foreign words on its controls. He also finds a manual in a foreign futuristic English. Fitzhugh also cons Dan into keeping quiet about this ship--telling him he wants to surprise Barry on his birthday a day after tomorrow. Dan, tired (as the script reveals) goes along. The two return to the Spindrift to get replacements for burned out diodes. Mark and Steve hide from a blond giant named Ranger Jack. Fitzhugh gobbles down food when Dan comes out of the Spindrift with wires and diodes. Dan calls a questioning Valerie nosey. Dan and Fitzhugh leave again. Steve and Mark return to camp to start eating lunch. When Val explains about the secret, the two men check the engine room in the Spindrift and figure the parts Dan took can only be used on the power plant of a spaceship. They run out and question Barry, Mark being alittle angry (he is more angry at Barry in the script and wants to badger the boy, only to be stopped by Steve). Mark asks, "You do know something, Barry, what is it?" Barry tries to explain that he didn't promise anything but Mister Fitzhugh thinks he did. Steve figures he and Mark will find Dan and Fitzhugh's trail. The two men leave. Val tells a worried and down Barry that he doesn't sound or look as fine as he says while he pets Chipper. She thinks the boy will feel terrible if something happens to Dan and Fitzhugh. Val figures Chipper can find them and an elated Barry takes the dog to Mark and Steve. Val says, "Score one for the weaker sex." (In the script Val says, "Score one for us women.") Steve sends a protesting Barry back to the ship as he and Mark follow the tiny dog to the Space Pod. Fitz picks Chipper up, "How did you get here, you little beast?" He was about to make a proposal to Dan. By this time, Dan has the pod operation able. When it started, Fitz said, "We're free of this miserable place. In the script, he said, "I'm free." When Mark and Steve question Dan, Dan is hurt (or so it says in the script and he voices this in the script) that they thought he was going to take off without them. They theorize it belonged to the time travelers from Earth (A Place Called Earth). Steve tells Dan that Barry's birthday is way off from now--he knows it and thinks Fitz is trying to pull something. Fitz says the ship is his--he found it and intends to return to Earth. Fitz, still holding the dog, sneaks around the pod and hands the dog to Mark who says, "This thing will only hold two people and he's making sure he'd be one of them!" Fitz runs into the pod, followed by Steve, who tosses Fitz away from the controls. The Giant Wilson reaches for the space pod. Fitz spots the giant, "Ahh, a giant and he's seen us!" Hands reach for the space pod's window.

Act TwoSteve orders Fitz to close the door and shuts the viewport over the window. Steve also blasts off. Jack, the other giant, tosses a weighted down net at Dan and Mark (who is still holding Chipper) but he misses them. As the Pod goes up, Steve finds the controls unresponsive. Mark examines the manual and he and Dan head back to camp--but not on the regular trails. Opening the viewports, Steve finds they are in outer space already and he calls Val, who is in the engine room. Val sends Barry to get Dan and Mark, urging the boy to stay out of trouble. Fitz, in the Pod, badgers Steve, "I wouldn't have to take it easy if I had a captain who knew what he was doing!" Steve says they have to wait and Fitz claims it is the hardest thing to do. Steve agrees sometimes it is. He assures Fitz that Val is doing what she can. Mark and Dan arrive and contact Steve. A meteor swarm hits the Pod near a strange star system. Then they see the green ball forming and it sucks the Pod toward it. Fitz doesn't seem to recall this phenomena but Steve does, "We ran into that once before. We were on the trip to London--the one that never got there. That was the first indication that we were entering--a space warp!!!" They are tossed violently, Steve pushes Fitzhugh off him. Val tells Dan about Barry--who was captured, unknown to Val. Dan goes off to find the boy--he and Mark never saw Barry. After the shaking, Fitz coughs and seems to have a fit. Steve tells him to calm down. Fitz tells Steve to let him die to which Steve answers, "You're not going to die---yet." The pair stare out at Earth but the controls on the console spark up and seem to start a major fire!

Act TwoSteve puts the fire out with an extinguisher; Fitz chokes, becoming very nervous. Steve tries to calm him down again, worrying Fitz might choke to death. The Pod, on a pre-set flight path, heads down to the blue planet. Fitz dreams of a famous welcome home: newsreels, TV, a ticker tape parade down Broadway, visits to the White House. They land in a town, Steve alerts Mark and calms Fitzhugh down. The two of them go out after Steve takes out a K-K ignition type knob. Fitz puts it in Steve's arm-pocket. Steve and Fitz see an old fashioned street lamp and a hand drawn fire cart. It appears to be an old typical New England town. Yet, Steve wonders if it is too old fashioned...maybe they went back in time. The Pod they used belonged to time travelers so it is not impossible that it is a time machine. The Giant Rangers capture Dan with the net. In the New England town, a church bell rings, bringing armed townsfolk out, guns, rifles, pitchforks, they surround the pair.

Act ThreeLead by Constable Homer, the crowd drags Fitz and Steve to an office for questioning. Homer takes the K-K key from Steve. On the giant planet, Dan and Barry are tied up and gagged and left on the grass for others to see as a trap. Homer on Earth, asks Steve about his wild story, "Now you say you were on your way from Los Angeles, California to London, England when you landed in this here land of the giants?" Steve concurs. Homer goes on to tell them that no man can fly. On the land of the giants, Val tells Mark about Dan and Barry being gone and she is worried something has happened to them. Mark cannot leave the radio. Fitz calms Steve in their jail cell in the year 1900, which is the time they are in. Steve was trying to find a way out. Fitz feels there are many advantages to living in 1900---no debts and he can know what will happen for the next 75 years (that should be 83 or 84 years). Mrs. Perkins, a kooky old lady, leads a mob who want to burn the two "devils" or "foreigners" or whatever they are. Homer manages to convince the crowd to get out of the office. They will be tried when the sheriff returns. Steve, later, fakes Fitzhugh being sick--"an old trick but it is only 1900," Steve remarks. Steve gets the guard, named Winslow, into the cell to look at Fitzhugh, then hits the man into the wall, and punches him three more times. Steve pulls a blanket off Fitz's face as he lay on the bunk. In the script, Fitz was looking out the window. The two men escape to the Pod, soon followed by a mob alerted when Winslow wakes up and rings the fire bell. Why didn't they lock him in the cell? The mob prepares to burn the Space Pod in a fire...and Steve cannot take off since he doesn't have that key!

Act FourSteve calls Mark, who tells him that if he pulls a lever and counts to three, then pushes it back in again, everyone outside the Pod will be frozen in time, between one second and the next, with a timer counting down. Steve does this and everyone freezes outside but aren't dead as Steve sees the torch fire moving and alive. In the script, the fire was frozen too. Then, Fitz and Steve exit to find the Constable, the man who has the key. Fitz steals money from a bank where everyone is stiff. He also fools around, smoking a cigar. This bank sequence seems improvised by Kaszner. On giant planet, Val goes to find Dan and Barry--and a net falls on her. She is promptly captured. On 1900 Earth, Steve finds the key and, back at the Pod, is told by Mark that he and Fitz have only 15 minutes of frozen time left...after that, they will burn up like a film caught in a projector unless they blast off in the Pod. In three minutes time left, Steve finds Fitzhugh at a wagon after a mad search, throws Fitz's money away, sky high, and pushes Fitzhugh in a mad dash back to the Pod. Steve acts like a madman to get Fitz back to the Pod just in time. In the script, Steve punches Fitzhugh unconscious and carries him back to the Space Pod. Steve also manages to blast off just as the counter reads 00, scaring Fitzhugh who cringes at Steve maniac behavior. The Pod lifts off just in time.

EpilogThe Pod relands in the clearing, Steve freezing time to stop the Rangers. A problem: the others are frozen and captured. Fitz moves Barry, Dan, and Val away from the area they were tied up in. Steve tells Fitzhugh they were back on Earth already and it didn't do any good. Steve sends the Pod up on auto and the Rangers depart. Why? Why not just move the others further off from view and take the Pod up and back to the spaceship? Safe again, Fitz show the others his prize. He has managed to save a one thousand dollar bill but it vanishes for some reason. Perhaps time couldn't allow this change? Everyone laughs.

REVIEW: A mediocre script made much better by the cast, especially Kaszner. Looking at the final script it is easy to see how the cast and crew changed lines and scenes to fit the characters much better. In the script, Mark was much angrier at Barry, Dan was more hurt by Steve and Mark's accusations that he and Fitzhugh were going to lift off without them, Barry was much meaner to Chipper, offering to hit him at one point. There was more dialog in the teaser in the script. It does explain why Dan falls for Fitz's con so easily (Dan was tired and moved by Fitz's thoughts for Barry). Kaszner was excellent, improvising the bank scene, which was not in the script. He made the episode fun. Even in small scenes where he only had a little to do he made it better (his nervous reactions in the Pod when the villagers attack, his cowardly covering of his head with the blanket while Steve absolutely pulverizes the guard). The conflict was there and more pronounced than of late but it's hard to believe Dan and Barry could fall for Fitzhugh's lies and cons this far into the series. Other changes made by the cast to the TV version work: Steve wouldn't punch Fitz unconscious at this point in the show. Instead, in the aired version, he acts like a mad man to get Fitz back to the Pod. Val is much softer toward Barry (and seems almost like Betty) and Fitzhugh seems less selfish than in the script. One changed line which didn't work is the TV version of Val saying, "Score one for the weaker sex." Val would never say that women are the weaker sex. The script claims her saying, "Score one for us women." Again, Val wears the newer, light blue top with the yellow collar and trim. The skirt is her usual second season skirt worn with the various tops. The New LaSalle music is beautiful---most of it is a clever variation on the other LaSalle second season music (MECHANICAL MAN, UNSUSPECTED, and others). A very brief bit sounds like the LaSalle part of LOST IN SPACE's THE DERELICT bit (during the Don rescue of Maureen and John from the comet). LaSalle in HOME SWEET HOME adds new similar sounding themes which fit perfectly--especially during the space time trip. Warner Brothers used a lot of this music in WONDER WOMAN, FLOOD!, FIRE, CODE: RED, SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, CITY BENEATH THE SEA, HANGING BY A THREAD, CAVE IN, and others. In addition there were other sources for this music--TV'S THE FUGITIVE and some older mystery movie as well as many westerns. William Welch had written other time trips and time tricks (VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA's TIMELOCK) and while this tale is routine science fiction, it is a big change for LAND OF THE GIANTS. Welch should also be credited for the first TV usage of the term space warp as well as the concept being a main part of the plot. Credit aside, the tale seemed like a reject THE TIME TUNNEL story with typical LOST IN SPACE-like camp characters (the dopey guard Winslow, the old lady crank Perkins). Perkins and other townsfolk could have stepped from the LOST IN SPACE episode VISIT TO A HOSTILE PLANET (the Jupiter II goes back in time to 1947 Earth) or any of the other campier LOST IN SPACE episodes. Dopey, unbelievable, and annoying characters nearly ruined VISIT TO A HOSTILE PLANET and yet don't overpower HOME SWEET HOME but the potential was there. Instead, the townsfolk are just a bit dull. The pod of course, is used direct from LOST IN SPACE's season three minus a few decals and maybe instruments. Continuity with A PLACE CALLED EARTH could have been better: the Pod there never landed, only orbited---Olos and Fieldar "beamed" down by popping out of the Pod and onto the planet. The time travelers' claim that it was nearby was a lie to Fitz and Barry. One does suppose the Pod could have landed when the murderers never returned or maybe they did land it on auto and we just never heard about it. Also in this story, Fitz and Barry are again calling Steve, "Captain" alternating with calling him "Steve." This also happened in NIGHTMARE. The next episode (OUR MAN O'REILLY) had Betty call Steve captain. In HOME SWEET HOME, there are more close ups than usual. It is also curious to note that Ranger Wilson has the same name (first or last we never find out) as Mark Wilson.

OUR MAN O'REILLY

PrologOn a dark but clear night the Irish-like O'Reilly is chased and shot at by private Security men Krenko and Warner. O'Reilly runs into the forest from the city, trips on a log, and falls, hurt----and trapping Fitzhugh beneath a small twig---which O'Reilly ends up laying on, unconscious. Val and Mark try to lead Krenko and Warner away but O'Reilly begins to wake up and starts to moan. Steve takes a sack and claims he has to shut O'Reilly somehow...and there's only one way to do that...

Act OneSteve has stuffed the sack into O'Reilly's mouth. O'Reilly comes to fully after the other giants go. O'Reilly spots Val (in her yellow top shirt), Mark, Dan, Fitzhugh and Steve. He rants as he stands up, calling to the saints and invoking something called the little folk. Fitz recalls a time on Earth and he starts to say--when he conned---but changes that word "con" to a real estate deal. Anyway, on earth, he conned a farmer in Dunningham, Ireland (probably out of land or money). The man believed in lephrachauns. Using this, Steve helps them get away from O'Reilly by making the country giant count with his back turned while the run off. Somehow, Fitz gets back to the campsite before the others and is bragging to Betty and Barry about O'Reilly. Of the giant, Betty says, "It's like a magic genie out of a bottle." NOTE: Jackson Gillis, the writer of OUR MAN O'REILLY, wrote LOST IN SPACE's THIEF OF OUTER SPACE. Fitz explains to O'Reilly, they, the little folk, the lephrachauns, are the magical powerful ones. Betty comments, "What a switch--the Giants afraid of us instead of the other way around." Steve comes back and asks how Fitz got back so fast. "He rode," Barry states. Steve chastizes Fitz for having had O'Reilly carry him back to camp. Fitz tells Dan to "come off it" when Dan asks if Fitz let O'Reilly see where they're camped. Fitz didn't do that. Steve yells anyway, having had enough of Fitz's ideas--as far as he is concerned Fitz got them into trouble. Fitz yells back, "You're the leader here because you're the captain of this stupid spaceship!" Fitz goes on to add O'Reilly can help them get it off the ground. Val trusts Fitzhugh judgement on one thing: knowing that O'Reilly is not a thief. Steve still yells, afraid of those Store Protection People who are still after O'Reilly. He tells everyone to turn in for bed. Val tells Fitz, "For as long as I've known you, this time I have a hunch that you're right." So later, she accompanies him toward a gift O'Reilly brought in a cup with bottle caps to drink from: it is beer, which delights Val. Fitz ordered pink champagne for the ladies and cognac for the men. Barry, with Chipper, follow to try to keep Fitzhugh out of trouble. Barry tells Fitzhugh this. When asked what is wrong, Barry tells Fitzhugh that he's never had beer before and he's not really sure he'd like it. Fitz guessed this already and had O'Reilly bring a giant lollipop. While Val and Fitz "rough it" as Fitz calls it, Mark surprises them. Fitz tells Mark that O'Reilly is a country boy new to the city and feels O'Reilly can get six three foot steel rods for pistons for a secondary power unit. The next morning, Fitzhugh, in O'Reilly's pocket, finds a "bit" to buy needles. Unwilling to steal, O'Reilly buys the needles from a peddler who is conning two women at his stand in a small town square park. As O'Reilly starts back, Krenko grabs him by the arm, "You're coming with me!!!" In the pocket, Fitzhugh shakes as O'Reilly is roughly escorted away....

Act Two Mark calls loudly over the walkie talkie. He calls Fitzhugh and whistles to get Fitz's attention. Fitz tells him to stop that, he can't talk, trapped in the dark pocket without knowing where he is being taken. He tells Val and Mark, "Say goodbye to Barry for me." Val and Mark blame themselves. Mark says, "We all should have listened to Steve." He heads back to camp. Krenko brings O'Reilly to Harry's bar restaurant. Krenko apologizes: they mistook him for a robber of a store last night. Harry tries to pawn stolen goods to O'Reilly but Krenko stops Harry. At camp, Mark wants to be the one to get Fitz out of the city. Dan mocks him, "The big sack cloth and ashes man (a Biblical reference)--he got Fitzhugh into this and by George, he's gonna be the one to get him out." Steve, sitting on the doorway step stool quietly listening, intervenes before Mark can argue with Dan. Steve blames himself because he lost his temper with their friend Fitzhugh, "That doesn't do any of us any good. I have to remember to have lots of patience with our friend Fitzhugh." They will head out. Steve tells Betty to stand by the radio with Barry and Chipper in case they need her help from here. Betty says, "Yes, Captain." O'Reilly, drinking, lets slip about tiny folk and how his "Blessed" mother told him to stay out of the city, it is no place for a country boy like him. Fitz kicks him to stop him. Krenko, in dealing with O'Reilly, knocked into him and felt Fitzhugh in his pocket on his jacket. After O'Reilly leaves, Krenko tells Harry that their new patsies will be...the little people. The original plan was to plant the stolen goods, goods they stole, on O'Reilly, making him look like the guilty one. Krenko has a new plan. Before O'Reilly left, Krenko put a shot bottle of cognac into the pocket, which, back in the forest, O'Reilly shares with Valerie and Fitzhugh, singing, "You can't have fun if you don't drink alittle." Steve, arriving, apologizes to Fitzhugh who in turn tells Steve he doesn't deem an apology necessary. They toast O'Reilly, Fitz taking an acorn cup from Steve. After they all depart, Krenko arrives and finds the bottle and the matchbook which held the needles that Mark already took for the spaceship and will use back at camp. Krenko, holding the matchbook and bottle, laughs evilly. His plan is taking form...

Act ThreeBack at camp, Fitz is thinking of O'Reilly as his slave and the others follow suit. Fitz and Steve talk of high test engine fuel, the girls talk of silk for new dresses, Fitz wants a feast. Steve tells the girls he doesn't want to seem like an ogre but the ship comes first. Mark wants drills, metals, tools, drill points, and fine wire. Betty says, "Too bad we can't look it up in the yellow pages." Fitz gets O'Reilly to do just that---the giant goes to a phone booth and tears out a page from the Yellow Pages, "May the telephone company forgive me." Krenko watches and when O'Reilly leaves, Krenko goes into the phone booth and investigates the book. O'Reilly took a page with jewelers on it. Fitz is proud that Steve will let him ride in O'Reilly's pocket during the raid to get what they need for the spaceship. The girls will keep watch outside the window of the jewelry store shop, and the other three men will ride in a ladies shoe box O'Reilly fetched from the trash (again watched doing this by Krenko). At Harry's bar, Krenko brings O'Reilly. Krenko and Harry examine O'Reilly's pin---something Krenko lifted off O'Reilly's person---not a pin at all but a walkie talkie which Fitz uses to communicate to O'Reilly. O'Reilly takes it back and turns down Krenko's offer to go to a ball game tonight (a baseball game). When O'Reilly turns him down, Krenko strongly suspects that the raid is tonight. Steve and Fitz, listening in on the radio, believe Krenko will be at a baseball game tonight so he will not get in their way. Of course, Krenko is lying and O'Reilly believes it, too. Hampered by a guard and F. Cunningham, the jeweler, O'Reilly finally gets into the jewelry shop--an office like room in a string of offices (a mini-mall?) aided by Steve, Mark, and Dan. Steve, Mark, and Dan slipped under the door. Steve and Mark hoisted Dan up via the rope and pin to the lock to let O'Reilly inside. Once all are safely inside, the jeweler returns and takes out a gun. Under Fitzhugh's direction, O'Reilly attacks the jeweler, aided by a distraction from Steve. O'Reilly knocks the other giant into a case which cracks, the jeweler falls unconscious and an alarm wire to the police is tripped. O'Reilly gets very upset and threatens to leave, calling the little people evil. He will not help them any more. He starts to walk out!

Act FourSteve tries to stop O'Reilly from leaving by threatening to put a curse on him if he does leave. He tells O'Reilly they will call a doctor for the Jeweler as soon as they're safe. In the most interesting scene O'Reilly makes reference to "a reminder on the floor" of goodness and leaves. Mark sees it---a cross with rubies in it--a seemingly religious symbol. Fitz of course, notices the rubies.Fearing damnation and seemingly praying, O'Reilly returns. Steve tells O'Reilly the truth about themselves and gets Fitzhugh to finish the rest of the truth. Mark and Dan load up the wire, pliers, and tools. The girls, unable to contact the men, hide as Krenko passes by, the giant heading toward the front of the building. He gives guard Jake a net.It's not very clear but Jake must be in on the criminal plan of Krenko's. Jake was reporting back to Krenko. Dan gives Steve some strong-as-steel cord. O'Reilly lowers Mark and Dan out the window as the two men sit in the shoe box. Steve tells O'Reilly they will not steal "that" referring to the cross on the floor. Krenko comes in armed but O'Reilly surprises him from behind the door. Nevertheless, O'Reilly is knocked out by Krenko as Steve and Fitz run into the hallway. Steve uses the cord to lure Krenko into a trap. Steve has Fitz pull the cord on one side of the door while he is on the other. Steve yells, "Okay, let's go out the front way!" Krenko comes running out and Steve and Fitz trip him with the cord, knocking Steve forward. Krenko is down now. O'Reilly comes out, stunned bu okay, "It's the end." "Not yet," Steve snarls, "Pick us up!" O'Reilly gets them out, hiding from Jake at a potted plant while Jake is busy with the real police, who arrive. Jake insists it was the little people. That morning, early, Fitz tells Steve he told O'Reilly everything about who they really are and the world they came from. O'Reilly, laughing, is heading back to his home--- "where he belongs." Steve smiles, "You know, he's a great guy, too bad we had to spoil his faith in lephrachauns." O'Reilly heads off, laughing as Steve and Fitz watch, then head their own way back to Spindrift's camp, following the others with their new tools and supplies.

REVIEW: Another so-so episode with only Alan Hale's excellent improvising and comedic acting as well as some more conflict among the regulars to support it. A controversial scene avoided being notable because it was so short and understated but it showed a cross which the Irish-like O'Reilly saw as religious. If COMEBACK mentioned French doors then OUR MAN O'REILLY clearly proved a link to Earth as O'Reilly is out and out Irish. It is sad to note that O'Reilly is a stereotype of the Irish (with drinking no less) and offensive. It's also offensive that O'Reilly sings praises to drinking being fun while so many young people could have been watching. And some of the regulars drink, too. Add to that, that Fitzhugh, Steve, and the others treat O'Reilly like a slave---and most unfairly. Still, in some ways, it is realistic that the marooned group would take advantage of the situation. Betty is thankfully back but doesn't have much to do. Alan Hale, now passed on, played the Skipper on the awful series GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. He made the Skipper his own character and was the best thing about that show. Without his input, GILLIGAN'S ISLAND would have been even worse. As it is, it is a boring, inane series most of the time. Billy Halop was one of the original bad kids in DEAD END KIDS movies. He was the best actor of the group of DEAD END KIDS and was in most of the more serious movies such as ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES and its sequels. He also did a number of cliffhanging serials with the DEAD END KIDS which were adventurous and entertaining. Alan Bergman was fine as the sneaky Krenko, the real crook. Bergman looks like a devil with an odd, demonic shaped yet alluring face. It is surprising he didn't work more often in film and television. Jackson Gillis, a very mediocre writer for science fiction, was a good writer for TV in general. He penned what is perhaps one of the, if not the best LOST IN SPACE episodes--MY FRIEND, MISTER NOBODY. He also did the similar but underrated THE MAGIC MIRROR, an enjoyable episode. After that his LOST IN SPACE scripts were silly and embarrassing, wasting the cast and guest stars (such as THIEF FROM OUTER SPACE with a magic genie out of a bottle as a line in this show states). He also did the cornball THE HAUNTED LIGHTHOUSE which had some good action but the silly J-5. Despite an emotional scene between Penny and Oggo, A DAY AT THE ZOO was very silly. His PRINCESS OF SPACE and SPACE BEAUTY did feature Judy for the third time in 80 episodes, so those managed something different, even if we can forgive Gillis for returning Mr. Farnum in the latter. Gillis wrote some of the best episodes for THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN---mostly the early seasons (PANIC IN THE SKY and A GHOST FOR SCOTLAND YARD to mention just two). Like Gillis's LOST IN SPACE scripts, OUR MAN O'REILLY has some long, dull stretches, even if the plot was not too bad. A few moments after already smashing the glass on the cabinet-case, Hale looks surprised when a left-over piece of glass falls off the broken jewelry case. This could have been unexpected or unplanned. Perhaps Hale made it look that he was surprised as the man had great comic timing. After the exciting game in DEADLY PAWN, the new continent of LAND OF THE LOST, the emotionality of EVERY DOG NEEDS A BOY, the originality of THE CLONES, the movie studio and bridge of COMEBACK, the weird other dimension of NIGHTMARE, and the time trip to Earth in HOME SWEET HOME----OUR MAN O'REILLY just seems too run of the mill by comparison. By this time in the series, Spindrift has a dirty, rusted, vine covered look to it.

Up to now in the series we have learned many things about the giants: 1-They use clocks and measure time the way we do on Earth (COMEBACK, NIGHTMARE, DOOMSDAY, and others). 2-They have a similar if not exactly the same math system as we do (a system used in the USA and not metric) such as NIGHT OR THROMBELTINBAR. 3-They have a phone company, phone books and booths, movie industry, jails, license plates for cars, and electric power. 4-They have some kind of religion (SHELL GAME, OUR MAN O'REILLY). 5-They seem to have some freedom of the press (RESCUE, DEADLY DART, SABOTAGE, SIX HOURS TO LIVE). 6-They use money that looks very much like American money (THE INSIDE RAIL). 7-Have French doors and Irish type citizens as well as French citizens (COMEBACK's cameraman?). 8-have trucks, buses, trains, planes but not functional spaceships (DOOMSDAY, LAND OF THE LOST, TARGET:EARTH, NIGHTMARE). 9-have sports (OUR MAN O'REILLY has a baseball game, DEADLY PAWN has chess, and GIANTS AND ALL THAT JAZZ has boxing as well as jazz). 10-they have TV and radio (GIANTS AND ALL THAT JAZZ, SIX HOURS TO LIVE). 11-corporal punishment (SIX HOURS TO LIVE, THE FLIGHT PLAN). 12-a military set up such as a Ministry of Defense. 13-some kind of parliament type government which is more than a mock-pseudo communistic set up; they have a cabinet and ministries of humanity. 14-have an Earth alphabet with A,B, C, etc. 15-do not have the German language and are ignorant of it. This is by no means comprehensive but it does show that there must be some resonance between Earth and the Land for such sameness to occur. As in all Irwin Allen shows, this is ignored, not thought about, or discussed when planning scripts, or just put in at convenience. It is too bad the sameness wasn't explored or explained later on.

NIGHTMAREPrologFitzhugh sings as he loads his belongings into Barry and Valerie's arms, wanting to load up the Spindrift for a blast off to Earth. He reprimands Barry for not being as hasty as he. Fitz insists he has a device before the new Delta device was given to them by a giant scientist named Andre. Mark tells Steve that Andre knows more about the elements on this planet and since the device uses elements from the planet, Andre could help them. The device somehow uses these elements or is made up from them. Elements which are not found on Earth. Steve insists that no giant, including Andre, will get a look at their camp. Mark answers this with, "I'm trying to get us back to Earth with this thing and you keep throwing road blocks." Steve insists, "No giants." Old Dr. Berger finds Andre's notes in the Science Center office, then follows the younger giant man when Andre is to meet Dan. Berger has already called Inspector Kobick---several times. The device has been modified and installed in Spindrift's engine room but suddenly pressure on the device goes critical and keeps running when the valves are shut. Steve can't let it explode so he opens the door, despite the danger of being exposed to radiation. Mark gives him a quick warning that if he opens it, they will all be exposed to radiation but Steve does open it anyway. A strange greenish radiation bath bursts out and blasts over Andre and Dan, Mark and Steve in the engine room, and the outside of the spaceship!

Act OneMark and Steve put out fires in the engine room. Andre is unable to ward Berger off and Berger, without realizing it, hits Dan with his cane. Dan runs to the spaceship and Dr. Berger is right behind him. Berger sees the spaceship from high above but it vanishes from his view. He swipes his cane to find it, threatening--again without realizing it---Valerie, Barry, and Fitzhugh, knocking over their supplies and luggage, and shaking the Spindrift as it hits it. Running to the hallway for the exit, Steve and Mark stop at the door and back off, hoping not to be seen. Chipper barks but Andre is able to get Dr. Berger away, despite his hearing this. Fitzhugh looks around for his uniform while Barry chases Chipper off. Val follows Barry. Steve comes back outside of the ship. Fitzhugh comments, "That dog will be the death of us yet." Steve doesn't bother to tell Fitzhugh why it's dangerous for Val and Barry to go running off beyond saying, "Because the giants are still around, that's why." Steve starts after the girl and boy but a green haze passes over Steve, who yelled out for Valerie. Fitz asks him what's wrong but he is not sure. He continues on. Chipper runs into a scaly green lizard gila monster. Barry runs toward Chipper to help him, against Val's warnings, "We can't take off without Chipper." Suddenly, both Barry and his dog are running in slow motion, then the pair of them disappear right before Valerie's stunned eyes. 3:10 PM: Berger tries to force Kobick to investigate the area he thought he saw the little people but also their spaceship. Reluctantly, Kobick agrees. Steve doubts Val really saw Barry and Chipper just disappear. When the two giants come searching, Steve and Valerie, in the forest, hide. They realize that Dr. Berger can't see them. Val is amused by this until Berger vanishes to her and Steve's eyesight! Steve orders her back to the camp but she runs straight into Kobick, who grabs her up in his fist. Val bangs her fists on his hand as he smiles!

Act TwoFitzhugh badgers Mark and Dan in the engine room. Mark warns about an explosion if the pressure goes up, then tells Fitz he is doing what a competent engineer would do and testing. Outside, Steve tells Dan and Mark about Barry and Valerie--and about Berger vanishing. Dan (with his arm in a sling) realizes, "Right now a giant could be looking at us, reaching down to grab us and we wouldn't even know it." They decide to get to Andre's lab to find some antidote. An unseen sergeant gives Kobick a cage with Valerie inside. Kobick questions Andre and Berger. It is about 5:30 PM when the two cannot see Val in the cage. Kobick leaves to get an official record statement form. Andre tells Berger the SID is trying to trap them. Berger feels around the cage with a ruler, menacing Val without realizing it. Val slips out and escapes. It is dark as the three men, Mark, Steve, and Dan head toward the lab which is in the middle of the city. Pedestrians and cars all vanish from sight---but the sounds they make are still heard. The things and giants are still there, only they cannot be seen. The men jump off a giant curb, ready to try to cross the street. Steve says, "Giant cars are one thing but not being able to see them...." He stops them from crossing as the sound of a car nears them. It splashes rainwater up at them. They decide to try the back way through the alleys and across train tracks. Dan vanishes as Mark helps him up toward Steve (who is on top the curb again). Dan vanishes between their hands. Steve pulls a confused Mark up, "Get up here before something happens to you." The two men run to an alley corner. Steve calls this a nightmare, then he vanishes in mid-run. Frantic, Mark calls to Steve. Steve hears him but is trapped in a weird other worldly dimension, seemingly covered by a membrane from Mark, "Mark, I can't get back!" Mark cannot hear him but he can hear Mark. Steve calls to him over and over.

Act ThreeFitzhugh reactivates the delta device in the Spindrift engine room. Dan calls Fitzhugh who is in the engine room but not for long: Fitzhugh, after the call vanishes. Dan is in the lab but it is odd---Earth sized, incomplete in structure, dark and light at the same time, and other worldly. Like in a dream. Dan warns Steve (and we see Dan's face from behind a large glass jar/container). Steve is on a traffic island, also Earth sized, surrounded by the sounds of rushing cars and trucks, invisible themselves. The city all around him reflects lights: hotels, fast food places, bars, no parking signs, and others. Steve dodges cars, then makes a dash off the island toward the lab. 8:40 PM: Kobick gives Berger two minutes to plead his case. Kobick is confused and aggravated when the doctor claims Andre hypnotized him. Berger tells Kobick he is motivated by patriotism and the Inspector believes him. They agree to "pay a visit to the little people's spaceship in the morning." Kobick holds the cage, "At least they're not invisible to me." Val arrives back at camp and goes into the engine room. She calls Mark (who is in an alley and near a discarded giant record player) and tells him her intuition is telling her to leave the ship, to get away from it. Mark tells her to do that, to follow her instinct. Giant footsteps pass by Mark and he cannot talk any longer. Mark takes off before Val can finish talking to him, making her feel even more uncomfortable. By a train depot, Steve falls onto rail tracks, menaced from both sides by trains, one driven by a shrieking madman Kobick; the other driven by Berger, also insane and reaching out at him. The pair speed their trains at him but he finds he can only run in slow motion. Figures resembling skyscrapers are all around. Steve escapes but is blown past a traffic light and down normal size steps. Here, a ghostly see through Andre blames Steve for all that has happened. Steve agrees it is his fault but what can they do now. Andre tries to crush Steve with his hand and fingers, laughing in an evil manner. Then Mark arrives, also blaming Steve--swiping at him with a giant nail like a sword and chasing Steve up the steps. Steve is again moving slowly as if in a slow motion film but when Mark swings it is super fast. Getting to the roof, Steve looks down to see a futuristic group of towers and sides of technologically superior buildings. Eventually Mark's advances with the sword knock Steve off the roof of the building. Steve falls down miles of skyscraper buildings, somewhat half visible. Dan leans out a window to catch him, "Steve, I'm here!" Dan misses and Steve spirals past him. We can see through Steve. Steve lands on a cement walk and falls unconscious!

Act FourAround Steve, lights fade and the green glow vanishes. A blurry image calls "Captain Burton" a few times: this is Fitzhugh, who helps him up and claims he has been walking around in a daze, aimlessly looking for someone, he doesn't know who, and he felt he was the only one on the planet. Dan calls them from 14th and Briar Street and the trio meet there. The cars and giants reappear (having always been there but not being seen). Dan feels the radiation is bouncing them around; Fitz worries about their blast off. Early morning: Valerie meets Mark on their trail. She asks Mark to explain what's happening. He tells her it was the radiation from the delta device---it produced effects on everyone---to hallucinate. Andre appears and talks with them about what is going on. The pair of Earthlings hide as Berger and Kobick arrive, interrupting their conversation with Andre. Kobick calls the forest a jungle since he was forced by Berger to take the long way around and into the park. It could be a wild goose chase for Kobick. Berger says, "You'll be the man who is finally responsible for the capture of the little people." Kobick replies, "Or the laughing stock of the SID." Berger chuckles, "Not THIS time, Inspector." Andre turns the tables on Berger and accuses him of consorting with little people and of giving them secrets, something he himself has done. Kobick falls for it and arrests Berger to be called in later to answer for himself and his bizarre actions. After Kobick leaves, Andre tells Berger he will forget his charges if Berger will forget his. Berger leaves; Andre waves a goodbye and goes, too. Val asks Mark if they should look for the others but he seems ready to give up. How do you look for something that's invisible? Barry arrives back at the camp, finds no one and plays ball with Chipper. Dan, Steve, and Fitzhugh meet Val and Mark on the trail. They figure Barry, being younger, may have been hit harder by the radiation. When Fitz mentions the device, Mark tells him that the device won't run normally. Steve uses the radio to call Barry, who answers him from the engine room where the pressure has been building up all along. They hear him but soon Barry's voice is drowned out by the device warning bell. Fitz, nervous, starts to confess. Mark grabs him and makes him fully confess that he reactivated the device. The spaceship can explode at any second. Dan and Mark run toward the ship. Steve gives Fitzhugh the radio to warn Barry, "Get the boy out of the ship!!!" Fitz gives it to Valerie, wanting to help firsthand, "You do it!" Val grabs the walkie talkie, "Barry, you've got to get out of the spaceship--it's going to explode!" Barry stares at the dials which indicate pressure is about to blow up the ship.

EpilogAs the men run, a radiation haze passed, slowing their movements and progress. Dan gets into the ship first, wrapping his arm around Barry and pulling him out. Mark and Steve pull the box and wires from the device, all of it sparking. Finally it all shuts down. Later, Steve comes out of the Spindrift, tolerant of Fitzhugh's bragging to Barry about how he deactivated the delta device, "And the day was saved by Mr. Fitzhugh!" Fitz apologizes for making it seem he was the only one who helped deactivate the device but Steve smiles, "That's all right." Steve tells to start stowing away all the stuff he was loading up to bring into the ship for their "blast off". Fitzhugh feels Andre can help them rebuild. Mark and Dan come out of the spaceship, telling Fitz they cannot rely on Andre or the device. They should be happy they weren't "blown off the face of the map." They load Fitzhugh's arms up with suitcases. Val laughs, "As long as we have Fitzhugh, we have hope." Fitzhugh, his face against and blocked by suitcases, asks, "Isn't anybody going to help me put this stuff away?!!"

REVIEW: A the outset, the group seems more like a family now---and in EVERY DOG NEEDS A BOY is more family like than the family in LOST IN SPACE in some ways. Val's new button down blue top is back (with yellow collar and border). Betty is still missing as she has been since DEADLY PAWN, production wise. This means she was not in LAND OF THE LOST, EVERY DOG NEEDS A BOY, THE CLONES, COMEBACK, NIGHTMARE, and HOME SWEET HOME production order. This episode is very Irwin Allen and William Welch. Other nightmare illusions appeared in LOST IN SPACE (THE HAUNTED LIGHTHOUSE, FLIGHT INTO THE FUTURE) and LOST IN SPACE also had an episode where the Robinsons vanish one by one into a scary dimension (SPACE CREATURE). VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA had THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED (illusions that made it seem as if the whole world had vanished), NIGHT OF TERROR, CAVE OF THE DEAD, SEALED ORDERS (of which NIGHTMARE might even be a remake of as a gas from a Seaview missile makes everyone vanish one by one as well as experience nightmarish adventures including a Captain Crane that seems evil against them), LEVIATHAN, NIGHTMARE, and DEATH CLOCK. Many of these are by Will Welch and Sidney Marshall (who also penned the other illusion LAND OF THE GIANTS-GRAVEYARD OF FOOLS. Thatcher was excellent here, exhibiting a laid back menace for once. His Berger wasn't really evil or even mean---certainly not as bad as Kobick and some other past giants and not even sadistic. One almost feels sorry for Berger because he really feels what he is doing is right (with patriotic feelings his motivation). And he is ultimately let down. Berger doesn't even seem selfish. I also doubt the SID would have let either Berger or Andre off as easy as Andre theorized they would. The credits of NIGHTMARE have Kevin Hagen (Kobick) listed as only "SID INSPECTOR" so maybe Kobick wasn't originally supposed to be the Kobick. Kobick, however, seemed right in character right up until the final scene where he agrees with Andre. Kobick probably wouldn't have let go of this so easily but to be fair, in past episodes he does lose his patience (SEVEN LITTLE INDIANS, RESCUE where he also let it go for once). The nightmare set was really bizarre and fitting yet again we are not too sure about what really is going on until the end explanation. This doesn't detract from the show, it is okay to be confused for awhile and to not be given too many answers right away. Yet Steve seemed to really fall, Dan admits to being bounced around, and the explanation is simply hallucinations and illusions. One can accept that but at times, it seems pat. NIGHTMARE is very good for being a LAND OF THE GIANTS with a different feel, a different angle. Robert Prince's new music (he also did music for FANTASTIC JOURNEY in 1977--most notably an episode called CHILDREN OF THE GODS) is suitable and eerie. It is very good just to listen too also. Thre is a great fan fic about the others' nightmares, including Kobick and CHipper